From ancient times to the present, humans have imagined the future in various forms. While some hope to create an ideal future world by critiquing present systems, others anticipate a dark and bleak world because these systems must inevitably break down or arrive at their logical conclusions. Still others imagine territories that have so many layers that could not be fixed at all, such as Foucault’s concept of ‘heterotopia.’ From global refugees to military drones, from post-apocalyptic narratives to the Anthropocene era, the world has always had unforeseen phenomena that blossom into a future. The future can be surprising, as the unimaginable seems to be flourishing day after day. Now is the right time for humans to discuss the diverse aspects of the future, both real and unreal. The 2018 IFH (Institute of Future Humanities) International Conference invites scholars of all fields to submit papers and proposals on the theme, “Investigating Future Territories: Utopias, Dystopias, and Heterotopias.”

Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following subjects:

Utopian/Dystopian studies

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic narratives

Science fiction

Posthumanism, transhumanism

Artificial intelligence, artificial life

Posthuman rights, animal rights, ethics

Visual studies

Science fiction and fantasy film

Monster studies, cyborg, robot

Virtual reality, augmented reality

Urban studies

Cultural studies

If you are interested in presenting, please send an abstract of 300-500 words and a short bio-note to ifh.conference@gmail.com by October 1, 2018. If accepted, a1,000-1,500 word presentation paper should arrive no later than October 31, 2018.